Gulf War Syndrome does not only afflict those who fought on our side in GW1 and GW2, but also those who went into areas that were heavily hit with DU ammo in Bosnia.

British, American, Dutch (and other country's) troops, as well as Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Bosnian civilians have all been suffering from the effects of these munitions. The symptoms include things like mental problems (not associated with PTSD), incontinence, much higher rates of cancer, kidney problems, tiredness, bleeding from orifices, lesions and, the most sinister, birth defects in the offspring of forces personnel SINCE they served in these theatres during the big shooting matches. Troops who had normal children before they went into battle, had higher incidences of producing deformed children after coming back. The incidences of miscarriage also increased in the spouses of soldiers, or even with females who had also served in those theatres. They key indicator of the effects being down to radioactive munitions being the genetic damage, leading to cancers, malformed babies and increased rates of miscarriage where there had been no previous familial history of such events. This applies to civilians and their families who frequent or live in areas where lots of DU ammo was used.

There have been various studies and reports that have been suppressed that show that the effects of the dust from DU ammo, when inhaled, causes innumerable problems with the body AND the genes of the person who inhales or is contaminated in another way by the particles.

In places like Iraq of course, the air is exceptionally dry, and the prevalence of dust dust storms means that those pollutants are being spread far and wide.

DU ammunition burns in flight, and burns and atomises for the most part on impact. The net result is fragments, dust AND noxious gases. Those that have been in the vicinity of exploding DU ordnance have complained of the distinctive smelling gases from the nearby explosions, and the metallic taste in their mouths.

In many civilian areas in the immediate vicinity of DU use, whole families have gone down with cancer; mostly acute leukemia, and especially in the children that have played in the those areas and even collected fragments of this 'glittering metal'.

At this time, both the MOD AND the DOD are seeking alternatives to DU, although they will be VERY hard pushed to admit the actual cause of Gulf War Syndrome, or the effects of DU ammunition on civilian populations.

The DOD has awarded a multi-million dollar contract to a company called LiquidMetal to see if they can reproduce the effects of DU without the contamination. They've got a material that self-sharpens on impact, just like DU, has the same or better hardness, and are investigating ways to increase the mass of the material - though that is (scuse pun) the hardest task as DU is 1.5 times more dense, and thus heavy, than lead.

It would seem that the way forward is similar behaving, but lighter and faster munitions, but without the attendant debilitating effects on those not being directly targetted - ie: civilians and friendly troops who move across the area after the assault.

Info source from various locations, including WHO, LiquidMetals, The Royal Society, Newspaper reports, the reporter Robert Fisk (who did a great deal of investigation on the matter, as well as visiting lots of Iraqi and Kuwaiti cancer wards AND delivering 5 tonnes of cancer treatments to hospitals all over Iraq during the U.N. embargo that had been paid for by readers of The Independent after a news campaign). The interesting thing to note is that the U.N. embargo actually included cancer treatments, as they said such treatments could be used as chemical weapons! See the U.N. banned list from the period. When Fisk kicked off and said the stuff was going to be distributed regardless, the U.N. caved in and approved the shipment import within 24 hours. Saddam Hussein on the other hand, held it up for months, during which time, many, many more children died in Iraqi hospitals.

Funnily (or not) enough, the UK nuclear industry still rubbishes any claims made that DU ammunition is harmful, even though admitting that DU has the same half life (4.5 billion years) as the age of this planet.

Funnily (or not) enough, the UK nuclear industry still rubbishes any claims made that DU ammunition is harmful, even though admitting that DU has the same half life (4.5 billion years) as the age of this planet.

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Of course they would rubbish such claims: who wants to be held liable?

1) People who never got with 100 miles are affected.
2) Symptoms do not match heavy metal poisoning. Contrary to some claims, Uranium poisoning is understood and documented.
3) Uranium is retained in the body for life - it would be found in a biopsy. The number of people who have been found to have been contaminated is (a) a few dozen and (b) restricted to those who did things like climb into destroyed vehicles.
4) The half life of 4.5 billion years means that it is very nearly non-radioactive. The shorter the half life, the hotter it is.
5) In terms of radiation, be more worried by the radium paint on the dials in Warsaw Pact vehicles. Knew a chap who sold them for collectors - the Ruskies loved their glow in the dark dials.